The Witch Who Cried Wolf
by Magic-Amethyst80
Summary: Takes place after the 5th season episode Happily Ever After. Trouble ensues after a surprise visit by Phoebe's old friend. Virginia meets an old friend with a few secrets of her own,
1. Chapter One

Author's Note: This story takes place a week after the episode "Happily Ever After." I would like to thank my beta readers for encouragement.

Disclaimer: See bottom of story for disclaimer.

"I don't care if they saved us," explained Crotchety, the dwarf, "we went to their world. lugging a coffin through their largest city until we could find transportation to the "airport." Once we got to the dreaded "airport," we had to wait three hours in line, with people staring at us because we were smaller than they were. Then, when we got on what they called the "plane" we spent six hours, in seats that were too small and cramped even for us, and ate the most awful tasting food. The least they could have done would have been to provide some adequate entertainment. But there was nothing to entertain us but that awful magic play about Cinderella which I hope she never sees. If she does, its creators will go straight to the gallows, no questions asked. We deserve a lot for the excursion gentleman."

Usually Crotchety was written off, but his reminder of the grueling details of their excursion struck a chord. Sleazy wrote up the bill, to be delivered to the charmed ones, in their world.

Piper brought in the mail and sorted it. It was 8:30 on an overcast morning. As she went through, she noticed something strange. At the bottom of the pile was a well worn brown paper envelope, addressed in calligraphy to her sister, Paige.

She walked over to the stairs and called out, "Paige, something came for you". Paige bounced down the stairs. "Looks like one of your friends is getting married," said Piper, as she handed over the envelope.

Paige wondered whom it could be from. Her only friend who was engaged had told her that she was keeping it a small, private affair. This certainly didn't look like an invitation to a simple wedding. She opened the envelope, and took out the brown piece of paper inside. It wasn't the wedding invitation she was expecting. The neatly written note said:

"_The Guild of Royal Dwarves of The Lower Kingdom is owed exactly 20 kilograms of precious metal and stones, for life preserving services rendered to the addressee. Payment is to be delivered in person in the City of New York, to the back door of restaurant Grill on the Park, promptly at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday the fifth of October."_

They knew what the letter was in reference to. A week earlier, an evil witch from the realm of fairy tales had attacked them. She had demonically possessed a suitor for Phoebe, sent a wolf after Piper, and placed a poisoned apple in a bowl of fruit. Paige innocently ate the apple ala the Snow White fairy tale. Fortunately Piper was able to conjure up a spell, which summoned the descendants of the seven dwarfs. They in turn, were able to preserve Paige using a glass coffin. After the incident was over, all seven of them left the house. One of them informed the sisters "We'll send the bill".

The sisters stared at each other, mouths gaped open. "20 kilos of precious metal, where are we going to come up with that in a half hour?" Paige sputtered.

Phoebe walked in the door, observing their expressions she looked at her sisters quizzically.

"The dwarfs sent the bill" explained Piper. Phoebe, grabbed the letter from her. While reading it over, she smiled.

"The Grill on the Park."

"Do you have any idea where that is?" asked Paige.

Phoebe responded, "Oh yeah, I worked there about, five years ago, when I was in New York. Beautiful place, right in Central Park."

Piper pointed to a spot in the letter.

"And do you have any idea where we could come up with 20 kilograms of precious metal?"

"I'll be right back" said Phoebe.

She ran up to her room and thought about how now would be the perfect time to venture back to New York. It would be temporary escape from the divorce proceedings. A shopping trip down Fifth Avenue would be great. In addition, she needed to catch up with some of her old friends. She hadn't spoken to her old roommate Virginia in so long.

Phoebe entered her room and went to her desk to retrieve a key. She used it to open her jewelry box. The box was filled with expensive diamond and gold necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Half of them had been given to her during her time in New York, when she had gone out with some sketchy characters. The rest were gifts from Cole.

She had considered hocking it all, but for some reason decided against it. Something told her they would come in handy some day. This was certainly that day.

Phoebe brought the box downstairs and showed its valuable contents to her sisters. Piper and Paige were floored. They knew that Phoebe had collected some valuables over the years, but they never suspected what was before them.

"Think this will satisfy them? Its not 20 kilos, but its all I have. They're the ones who should owe us. After all, you vanquished that witch," she said looking at Piper.

"Are you sure you want to give all that away?" Piper asked. She still wondered about the status of Phoebe's relationship with Cole. Somehow she suspected that Phoebe still loved him, despite all that had happened.

"Definitely. I need to get rid of it," argued Phoebe, not wanting to debate it. "We could orb there now, give it to them, and get it all done with."

Piper sighed. She knew that once Phoebe became this adamant about something, it was impossible to get her to change her mind.

"Be careful" exclaimed Piper, worried about what might happen to her sisters in New York City. She didn't feel like orbing there with them. Earlier that morning she had a bad bout of morning sickness. If anything went wrong, she and Leo were just a call away.

Phoebe and Paige arrived in a secluded section of Central Park. They immediately headed to the back door of The Grill on the Park.

Paige knocked on what seemed to be a loading door. "Anyone there?" she asked aloud. An extremely attractive young man came to the door. He had curly, golden blond hair, and was dressed in an expensive sweater from Banana Republic. "The Charmed Ones I presume?" he asked, in a British accent.

"Yes, that's us" replied Phoebe. Paige seemed speechless, as she looked into the young man's eyes. He seemed to be just as enthralled with her.

"Will this do?" Phoebe asked awkwardly, handing him the box.

The man quickly looked away from Paige

"Please don't worry about it. You and your sisters have done a great service to our people, vanquishing the swamp witch, Veronica. For three hundred years, no one has been powerful enough to stop her. You don't owe us anything more. Saving your life, is too little in payment," he looked at Paige, took her hand and kissed it.

Ordinarily, Phoebe would be suspicious. However; he seemed so kind and genuine. As the dwarves had said, Paige did desperately need a prince. Not wanting to be in the middle of something, she decided to leave them alone, and walked out to the front of the restaurant.

Phoebe entered the front door. The restaurant had been completely re-done. Almost all the furniture looked like antiques taken from some castle in England. The checkerboard floors seemed to give it an enchanting, fairy tale like quality. It was beautiful, but oddly similar to the ballroom where she was seduced last week, by Adam Prinze. A sign above said "Under New Management." She breathed a sigh of relief. Edward, her old boss, had been completely unreasonable. Hopefully someone more deserving now owned the place. She looked around for a familiar face, wondering if any of her ex co-workers were still there. Fortunately she was in luck.

"Ginny!" shouted Phoebe. Virginia Lewis hadn't changed a bit. Like always, her light brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and an apron was tied around her waist.

It took a minute for Virginia to recognize who it was. Phoebe looked so much older without her old short brown haircut, she thought.

"Phoebe? How are you, it's been so long," she said, embracing her old friend.

"I've been okay. Are you still working here?" Phoebe responded.

"Yes" exclaimed Virginia "but its not that bad, my husband and I are the owners."

"Congratulations, you've really done a lot with the place." she said looking around. She noticed that there was something strange about most of the wait staff. Some of them had a peculiar affect about them, weird shifty eyes, and overly content attitudes.

"Thanks. How have you been?" responded Virginia. Are you still living in San Francisco?"

"Yes, I run an advice column called _Ask Phoebe _for the Bay Mirror."

"That's awesome. How are your sisters doing?"

"They're okay." She didn't feel like bringing up what happened to Prue right then. It would wait until later.

Phoebe then asked, "How is your dad?"

She remembered Virginia's father, Tony all too well. He was extremely over-protective, calling her every night, expecting her to tell him down-to-the-minute details of her life. If she didn't call in by 10:00, he would come over, to check if she was in.

"He is working overseas."

"Where?" asked Phoebe

"In the United Kingdom. He runs a business making rubber bouncing castles for children's birthday parties."

"You miss him?"

"Yeah, but we get to see each other pretty frequently." Just then a howling cry was heard from behind them. "Looks like my son is waking up from his nap, I should check on him."

Phoebe followed Virginia to the back room, in which there was a worn out playpen. Inside was a young boy with thick dark, unkempt hair, surrounded by various toys that looked more like they were made for a puppy than a toddler.

"Oh my god, he's adorable" Phoebe said, lifting him up before his mother could say anything. The young boy looked up at her. "What cute eyes he has," she said referring to his big, shifty green eyes.

For some reason Virginia seemed nervous. The child smiled, and made a cooing noise that sounded a bit like a howl. He sniffed Phoebe's neck. She thought it was a bit odd, although his tiny nose was so adorable. And those cute teeth, all so little, except for the canines, which looked a bit like fangs.

"Ouch!" she yelped a second later.

Virginia instantly ran over to her friend, whose neck was bleeding badly.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. He is teething and all, you know what that's like."

Virginia sighed. This was the third accident in two weeks. One former nanny had already threatened them with a lawsuit. She didn't want to have to deal with another one.

"A little piranha you are" Phoebe said as she handed her friend the child, desperately trying not to bleed on him. She had no idea that an infant could inflict such bodily injury.

Virginia put the child back into the playpen. "Haven't I told you not to bite. Stay here, don't move." She turned to Phoebe, and nervously sat her down in a chair in the corner. "I'll go get something, don't worry, you'll be fine. It's not as bad as it looks. I'll tell you what, free dinner for you and your family, on the house tonight. Anything you want, executive room in the back, is all yours. Actually, we'll do it all at my house."

Virginia then ran out, to get the remedy her husband's family used for treating these kinds of incidents with young ones.

Just as Virginia left the room, Leo orbed in.

"What happened" he asked, attempting to heal the large bite on her neck. The boy seemed to have gotten a vein.

"Him," she said pointing to the child in the playpen who was now looking up, in awe, at the ceiling from where the stranger seemed to appear.

Just as Leo was done healing her neck, Virginia returned with something and was startled, wondering how he could have gotten in. She had been two feet away in the hallway the entire time, and didn't see anyone enter the windowless, _mirrorless_ room.

She opened a jar which contained a mysterious orange substance, "This should help with your neck."

"That's okay, I'll be fine" responded Phoebe. Virginia was shocked once again. What looked like a nasty bite had completely healed itself in about two minutes. Phoebe went on to introduce the blond man.

"This is my brother-in-law, Leo Wyatt" Phoebe said. Virginia shook the man's hand.

"Virginia Lewis-Wolfson" she said introducing herself, "and this is my son, Randell."

A strange feeling came upon Leo as he touched her. The young woman's aura seemed to be that of a witch, yet the elders had not told him anything about new lines of witches being created. Nor had they told him of any future white lighters.

"What is that in the jar?" he asked.

"Its something organic. Works like magic for cuts and scrapes"

Virginia had grown a bit suspicious of the man, but, noticed, her son seemed to like him.

"Oh," he said changing the subject. "Nice place you have here." He hadn't seen the interior of the restaurant, but assumed it was excellent from the scents of fresh apples and lamb, coming from the kitchen. He was curious to see what Piper would think, her being a chef and all. Speaking of Piper, he could sense her calling him. "I have to go," he said "pleasure meeting you."

"See you later, Leo" responded Phoebe as Leo walked out of the room.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Phoebe, Piper, Leo, Cole, Prue and any other characters from Charmed, are property of Brad Kern and Warner Brothers. Virginia Lewis, Wolf, Prince Wendell, and Tony Lewis and any other characters from Tenth Kingdom, are property of Simon Moore and Hallmark Entertainment.


	2. Chapter Two

Virginia and Phoebe headed south on the 6 train. Phoebe needed to pick up a few ingredients for some potions Piper was working on, so decided to do lunch in Chinatown.

As they were sitting on the train, Phoebe asked."You didn't get a chance to tell me about your husband. What's his name, where is he from?"

"His name is Warren. He is from, a small town somewhere in Alaska, but I always forget where." Virginia felt guilty lying to Phoebe, but she kept her husband's true origins a secret. No one would believe her if she said where he _really _came from. "We met when my father and I ended up on an excursion about three years ago. It was a love at first sight kinda thing. We were married two weeks afterwards. How about you? Anyone special in your life?" asked Virginia, wondering if Phoebe had ever settled down. She always had a "way" with men. When they were roommates, there was often a different man in her bed, every day of the week. They stepped off the train.

"There was," Phoebe said in a rather depressed sounding voice. "We were married about six months ago, but things didn't work out. He had issues with inner demons. We kept trying, but nothing could work. I'm in the process of getting a divorce, he's making it difficult."

"I take it you're here to get away from him? Are you moving back. I know of some shelters that deal with those types of situations, in case he tries coming after you."

"Oh no, its not like that," exclaimed Phoebe, "I'm came here with my sister Paige. She had a business deal to take care of, and I decided I needed a vacation. He still loves me and all, and would never go out of his way to hurt me or anything. Its just that love wasn't enough."

By the way that Phoebe was speaking, she suspected that the situation was more complex than she was letting on. She probably had some residual feelings for her ex. Virginia stated, "In my marriage I've certainly had problems with his inner demons. At first I felt I couldn't overlook them. But then I came to realize how important it is to be loved." Virginia began to realize that she was getting way too preachy and stopped herself as they walked into a take out buffet on the Bowery. A smile came across the face of the Asian man behind the counter, when he saw Virginia enter. Usually Virginia was followed by her husband. Her husband usually consumed most of what was out. Virginia and Phoebe took small plates, and food.

As they were eating their meal, Virginia asked, "I didn't know that you had a sister named Paige. I thought your sisters were Piper and Prue."

"Prue died, in an accident last year," stated Phoebe quietly, "afterwards, we found out that we had another younger sister, Paige. Our mother had her when we were toddlers, but gave her up for adoption. Over the past year Piper and I have become close with her. "

"I see" exclaimed Virginia in an understanding voice, "I certainly know what that's like to lose a loved one… my mother died three years ago." Virginia didn't feel going into complex details that surrounded her mother's death. It was too painful to discuss over lunch in public.

"I'm sorry" Phoebe calmly told her as they continued eating. One of the reasons she always felt close to Virginia was because they both experienced parents "walking out." Virginia's mother ran away when Virginia was seven. Phoebe's father had also walked out when she was young. Fortunately he had recently come back into their lives, but Phoebe didn't feel like discussing that with Virginia. They continued eating mostly in silence, not wanting to think anymore about depressing things.

As they finished eating, Virginia got up, and went back to the buffet. Her husband wouldn't be too happy if he found out where she went for lunch, and didn't bring anything back. She took some spare ribs, and other random pork products, into a Styrofoam container. Just as she was closing the container, _it happened again_. She dropped the container on the floor and froze as she stared into the mirror behind the buffet. She could see her husband working in the kitchen of their restaurant.

For the past week, incidents like that had been happening around mirrors. Whenever she was by one, and thought of someone, she could see them wherever they were. This had been worrying her greatly, she feared that she was becoming like her mother. Her mother had similar problems when she was her age.

"Are you okay." interrupted Phoebe who noticed the way Virginia had froze. "Yeah I'm fine" Virginia responded. She seemed pretty bothered, Phoebe thought, as if she had seen a ghost _or had a premonition. _ She immediately got down on her knees and started cleaning up the spilled Chinese food. They walked out of the store.

After a fun afternoon of shopping, Virginia and Phoebe returned to Grill on the _Park_. "I have to get back now. If I leave my husband in the kitchen for too long, we won't have anything left to serve. Don't forget about dinner tonight. You sisters and brother-in-law can also come if they want,"

"I'll definitely be there, I promise. They'll probably come too." she said as she hugged Virginia

Just as Virginia left, Phoebe noticed Leo sitting at the bar sipping a mug of beer. This shocked her, usually Leo wasn't one for drinking in the middle of the afternoon.

"Phoebe," he said when he noticed her approaching. "Have you heard from Paige, I haven't been able to contact her all day."

"Nope, I haven't, and what are you doing, drinking that." responded Phoebe.

"Oh, this" he said referring to the mug of amber liquid he was drinking, "it's cider and its really good. You should get a glass."

Not being too thirsty she changed the subject, "We've been invited to dinner tonight."

"Where?"

"At Virginia's place up on 81st street. I promised her I would be there. You and Piper are invited too. I really think you should come. Piper hasn't been out of the house in a week. She needs to do something social, it'll definitely help with her mood."

"Speaking of your friend Virginia, do you know anything about her mother?"

"Not much. She walked out on the family when she was seven and was never heard from again. Virginia never really felt comfortable talking about it. However; at lunch she mentioned that she had died. Any reason why you want to know this?"

Leo responded, "When I shook her hand before, I sensed that she was a witch. But the elders haven't told me of any new witches, or witch lines being created."


	3. Chapter Three

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Here is the third chapter of my fic. Feedback is very much appreciated! 

Phoebe Piper and Leo arrived at Virginia's apartment in New York. Piper thought she heard some arguing going on, a woman telling her husband to "try and act normal." They knocked on the door, and Virginia answered. 

The air smelled of something cooking in the kitchen as they walked into the small but redone apartment. Piper and Leo sat down on the couch. 

Phoebe introduced the people she was with, "Virginia, you've met my brother in law Leo, this is my sister Piper."

Piper smiled and handed Virginia a bag with two "presents," a bottle of wine and cookies she had baked for desert. Virginia placed the gifts on the table, and Piper extended her hand "Nice to meet you. I hear you own Grill on the Park?"

"My husband and I do," virginia humbly responded. She hated getting the credit. It was her husband who was behind the success of the restaurant.

Piper continued the conversation, "I used to be in the restaurant business myself, managing the restaurant Quake in San Francisco." She had read about the restaurant Virginia and her husband owned it in a number of magazines, and seen it reviewed on The Food Network. Supposedly, a simple meal of lamb, potatoes, and cider was turned into an exciting culinary experience not to be missed. 

Virginia asked "Are you still in the restaurant business?"

"No, I left it three years ago. I now own a night club."

"That must be exciting," exclaimed Virginia. 

There was a brief pause in the conversation, then Piper heard something going on in the kitchen. "Cripes, the guests have arrived, and dinner isn't ready," she heard a man say.

Just then the man emerged with a wild, over enthusiastic look in his eyes. He was wearing a long sports jacket over a gray shirt and his dark hair was neatly slicked back. He walked over to where they were all sitting, and placed a huge plate of spare ribs, and cocktail franks on the table. 

He then approached the guests, "And who are these two lovely ladies, and this dashing gentleman," he asked looking at Virginia. 

Virginia introduced Phoebe, Piper and Leo, turned to them and said, "This is my husband Warren." As she introduced him, he bowed, "Pleasure to meet you," he said then picked up Phoebe's hand and kissed it. He moved onto Piper, and shook her hand, not wanting to make her husband feel uncomfortable. 

He then turned his attention to the plate of ribs on the table, and grabbed one. 

Piper had never seen anyone or anything devour a rib the way he did. In two seconds it went from rib with meat, to plain white bone! 

"Feel free to start eating, you don't want them to get too cold," he said looking at the guests. Not wanting to seem rude, Piper and Leo each took one. 

Warren then glanced at Phoebe, who seemed to be abstaining, "I'm a vegetarian," she responded. 

"Huff Puff!" he responded, "How could you live a meat free existence? No pork chops, and lamb chops, no steak, bacon….."

Piper did a double take, as she bit into the almost raw rib. Virginia's husband uttered a phrase that she had only heard one other "being" use, the wolf from last week! The wolf that ate then pretended to be her grandmother. The wolf that ate her! Although she was able to blow it up from inside its stomach, the event still traumatized her. She wondered if there were other "wolves" like that in existence, who ate people alive! How would someone other than her, who didn't have the power to blow things up, escape from a wolf's belly? 

Pipers train of thought was interrupted when a timer bell rang. Warren responded to the bell, "The main course is almost done. I must get back to the kitchen." 

As he quickly scurried away, and Piper and Leo simultaneously put down their ribs. Piper had to admit, despite the fact that it was barely cooked, the sauce it was covered in was amazing. The chef had achieved the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. 

"Care for anything to drink?" Virginia asked as her husband returned to the kitchen. "We have soda, cider and an unlimited supply of beer." 

"Is it the same cider that was at your restaurant," asked Leo.

"Yes" responded Virginia "It's a secret recipe." 

Leo had never tasted anything as good as the cider he had had that afternoon, not even "up there."

"I'll take some," said Phoebe, who was now thirsty, "I'll try some too," exclaimed Piper. 

As Virginia left to get the drinks, Leo looked at the contents on the mantle above the fireplace. There was a picture of a young Virginia holding a stuffed animal, a wedding picture of her and her husband, and a picture of a red headed woman.Virginia returned with the cider. She gave a mug to Piper, a mug to Phoebe, then a mug to Leo. Leo dropped his mug and froze in place, staring at what was next to the picture, a simple white rose sitting in a vase. 

"What's the matter?" asked Piper.

"Uh, nothing" replied Leo. 

He wondered about the rose on the mantle. It was almost perfect, and gave off a faint blue glow that only he could see. Could it have been a transfer orb? 

Transfer orbs were considered rare, so uncommon that he never paid much attention to how they worked during his training as a whitelighter. He always assumed he would never come across one. Supposedly they were extremely sensitive and could only be used a few times per century, on specific individuals, and specific types of magic. Conditions had to be perfect. Of what he remembered, they had the power to "filter" magic, take good magic, and turn it dark, or take dark magic, and turn it good. They also had the power to create new witches. Once one line of witches was to end, these power transfer vehicles could absorb the powers of a dying witch, and transfer them to a new, unrelated individual. However; things could become complicated if a power transfer were ever to be "interrupted."

Whitelighters were specifically instructed by the elders never to tell their charges about their existence, for fear that they might end up in the wrong hands. To the best of his knowledge, only the elders could create them. However he once heard a rumor about an evil witch in another dimension, obtaining one, and using it in desperation, when her line was about to end. 

He ran to the kitchen to get some napkins to clean up the spilled cider. Virginia followed him. As she retrieved some paper towels, he asked her, "Where did you get that rose on the mantle."

"It was a baby gift from a friend. She said that it had been in her family for a number of years, and that she wanted me to have it. It was dead until last week, when it strangely started blooming." 

Virginia didn't feel like telling him exactly who the friend who had given it to her was. 

When they returned to the living room, Leo turned to Piper, and nervously asked, "I think I left my wallet back at the hotel room. I should go back there, I won't be that long." He headed for the door, intending to orb straight "up there." He had a few questions for the elders! 


	4. Chapter Four

Piper suspected something was up and followed Leo outside. His getting called to help some witch in distress was a common occurrence. However, his acting nervous and then suddenly wanting to go, wasn't….

Piper asked "What's up!" she asked her voice slightly threatening. 

"I'm just getting called." He uncomfortably then quickly orbed out. 

Piper walked back into the apartment. Virginia's husband had returned from the kitchen with some vegetable sticks. Piper immediately grabbed one. She did have to admit the vegetables and the cider were incredible. She wondered where they had gotten it all from. The man sat down and asked how everything was. Piper was startled, and noticed something else about him. 

He scratched his temple with the side of his hand in a peculiar way, almost exactly as the wolf who had possessed her grandmother had. Could he have been possessed by a wolf? Leo had told her that he suspected Virginia was some kind of a witch. Perhaps someone had sent a Wolf to destroy her, or turn her evil. 

Where was Leo? Leo was the only other one who knew what to "look for" regarding Wolves. He was there last week. How could he run off and leave her, Phoebe and an innocent vulnerable in a situation like 

Virginia's husband returned to the kitchen. Phoebe and Virginia began discussing old friends, when a toddler darted out from under the table, towards the plate of ribs. He was wearing a pair of blue and white pajamas with the New York Yankee's logo on them. His hair was wild and matted. Virginia quickly grabbed a rib and gave it to him, before he could "attack." " Phoebe stood back, not wanting to have a repeat performance of before. With the rib in his hand, the boy walked over to Piper. He shot her a curious glance, took her hand and sniffed it. He then let go, and commented "mommy." 

Piper laughed and responded "I may look a little like your mommy, but that is your mommy over there."

He looked at his mother, "you mommy, where's baby."

Piper then laughed again "He won't be here for another six months." 

The boy gave her a look that he knew what she was talking about, "He is in your tummy."

"Yes, you are very smart," Piper responded with a look of surprise upon her face. How could he tell? 

Virginia, happy that her infant said his first full sentence, tried to downplay the situation. Obviously her son had the keen sense of smell that his father had. Her husband was able to tell she was pregnant, three days after Randell was conceived. "Congratulations" she told Piper. She turned to her son "Its way past your bedtime," she said collecting him before he did any damage. She carried him back to his room. 

Phoebe and Piper were now alone in the living room. Piper asked quietly "Have you noticed anything weird about Virginia's husband?"

"Not really, why?"

".Something about him reminds me of the Wolf from last week."

Phoebe gave her a look of disbelief, "Piper, that thing ate you and grams alive. You're probably just experiencing some form of PT, from all that happened."

"No, its not that," began Piper. Suddenly a shrieking sound was heard from the infant's room. 

Phoebe instantaneously ran up to see what was happening. She told Piper, "I'll deal with this, you just stay here." She knew something odd was going on with Virginia, from what happened at lunch earlier that day. Could it have had something to do with what Leo said about Virginia possibly being a witch?

*****


	5. Chapter Five

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Here is the fifth chapter of my story. Feedback is much appreciated! The more I get, the quicker the next chapter will come out! 

*****

Phoebe walked into the young boy's room. Virginia was staring into a mirror, and shaking, as if she had seen a ghost. 

"Virginia, are you okay?" asked Phoebe, placing her hand on her shoulder. Virginia nervously responded, "I don't know." 

Phoebe sat Virginia down, then asked, "What were you looking at in the mirror." 

Virginia responded uncomfortably, "You wouldn't understand. I think I'm going crazy."

"I'll understand, believe me," Phoebe said reassuringly. 

"I see my father. He is eating dinner with an old friend, and a girl with red hair.. " She got up and started to pace around the room, "I can't believe I'm telling you this. For the past week I've been seeing things in mirrors."

She hadn't told anyone about what was happening to her, not even her husband. She feared people might think she was going insane, like her mother! 

Phoebe responded sympathetically, "You aren't, going crazy." She began to realize that Leo was probably onto something. 

*****

Piper sat in the living room, wondering if she should go and check on Phoebe and Virginia. Something was obviously going on in the infant's room. She got up, and walked towards where they were, but was interrupted by a call from the kitchen.

"Virginia, would you be a lamb and help me bring out dinner." 

That was the last straw for Piper. She definitely remembered the wolf using that phrase last week! She quietly walked toward the kitchen door. As she approached, her suspicions were confirmed even more. He was humming the tune to an odd song, one her grandmother had been singing when she was possessed. The lyrics were rather sick, dealing with a shepherdess making quite a mess.

She then slowly opened the door. She peaked inside and was startled by what she saw. 

Warren was definitely possessed by a wolf! Sticking out of his pants was a big, bushy gray tail. Piper put her hands up, and attempted to freeze him, but it was no use. Her powers were on the brink because of her pregnancy. Instead of a frozen wolf, she saw magical fireworks, which the man noticed. He looked toward Piper.

"Virginia, did you clean up the fairy dust from last week?" he asked, thinking his wife had entered the kitchen. However; after sniffing the air, he realized that it wasn't her, but one of the guests. He looked at her and said, "You don't have to be in here. You're our honored guest." Piper stayed frozen in place, staring at his tail.

Warren quickly put his hands behind his back to cover it up. "Uh," he uttered, realizing how shocked the young woman must have been. People in this world weren't use to magic at all, let alone half wolves.

Piper was frightened. She assumed now that she knew his secret, he was definitely going to attack. She reached for large butcher knife that was right by her, and threw it at him. It hit him in the stomach. However, he was not "vanquished" as last weeks wolf. He cringed in pain, and collapsed to the floor. Piper could see gobs of blood between his fingers where the knife had hit. 

*****

Virginia was beginning to calm down, as Phoebe explained how she herself had premonitions. A crash was heard from the kitchen. Virginia glanced at the mirror, "Oh my god, Wolf…" she said, running out. 


	6. Chapter Six

__

Here is chapter six of my fic. The next chapter is coming soon! Feedback is much appreciated.

Phoebe followed as Virginia ran to her bleeding, husband's side "What did you do to him," she said sobbing and looking at Piper. 

Piper answered nonchalantly "He was possessed by the big bad Wolf. He was going to eat me and the rest of us."

Virginia angrily responded, "He is not possessed by the big bad wolf you idiot. He's half wolf. He's harmless! Are you crazy? What is wrong with you?"

Piper was silent, as she realized what she had done. In her almost four years as a witch, this was the first time she had mistakenly harmed an innocent. 

"Don't worry" responded Phoebe feeling awful about the situation. "Leo, Leo," she screamed. 

Leo orbed in, upon Phoebe's call. Virginia was shocked to see him gradually appear out of nowhere, from transparent blue bubbles. 

"What are you?" She asked he approached, "stay away from him!" 

"He can help," said Phoebe, who took a protesting Virginia by the shoulder. "He has the power to heal."

Virginia then watched as Leo removed the knife. As he touched Wolf, there was an amber glow and Wolf's stab wound was instantly healed. In all her time in a magical realm, she had never seen anything like it. 

Piper turned to Virginia "I'm so sorry. Last week I had an incident with a Wolf who was sent by an evil witch. He ate me and my grandmother alive…."

Wolf overheard Piper's story as Leo finished healing him. It suddenly dawned on him. There was only one wolf he had known of who had the power to actually eat a person alive! The most infamous of wolves to have ever lived, who had forever tainted the reputation of wolves! It was fabled that there were only three who had the power to stop him. Only three who could survive an attack by him, three extremely powerful witches. He sat up, "Cripes, could it be, Are you the Charmed Ones?" 


	7. Chapter Seven

Phoebe and Piper were enthralled at the stories Virginia and her husband Warren, who was known as Wolf, told over dinner. The fairy tales that they had all heard since they were children, were real, and had taken place in the parallel realm, which Wolf was from. 

Virginia didn't know what to make of all she had just found out, there was still a lot that she had to learn about being a witch. Fortunately she had friends she could count on to learn the basics. It also helped having a husband from a magical world, who knew all about how to make potions, and how to avoid personal gain. She then looked at Leo and asked, "any idea how I got these powers?"

"Your mother was the protégé of Veronica, the evil witch from fairy tales. When Snow White finally came to power after a rebellion, she decided to punish Veronica, by making her wear a heated pair of shoes. After this Veronica was severely weakened. She spent the next few centuries in a swamp, looking for a successor by using her mirrors. Eventually she found one, your mother," he looked at Virginia. 

Piper interrupted, "but how did Veronica do it? How did she make Virginia's mother an evil witch?"

"Veronica was somehow able to get her hands on one of those," Leo answered, his eyes turned to the rose on the mantle. "That rose is no ordinary flower. It's an extremely powerful magical tool known as a transfer orb. Transfer orbs only work in rare circumstances. One of them is when the last of a line of witches reaches menopause before producing a child. Veronica never had any children of her own. She was able to use a rose like that, to pass her power onto your mother. The transfer took place slowly, as Veronica became weaker, her powers were gradually passed on to your mother. However along the line things were interrupted. Your mother was killed. Therefore, after Veronica was finally vanquished, the powers went to the next one in the new line, Virginia." 

Piper then chimed in, "but if the powers of both Veronica and Virginia's mother were evil, how could they be passed onto Virginia without making her evil?"

Leo looked at Virginia, and asked "have you ever been given another dead rose, one that suddenly came to life?"

"Yes," she responded, "Prince Wendell gave me one as a gift after I helped save his kingdom. When I went to see my mother before her burial, it suddenly came to life." 

"One of your roses was probably for transferring the other for filtration," explained Leo unsure of exactly what which flower did what. "Also powers in the other realm must have been different. From what you and Wolf describe, it seems that witches who choose evil don't exhibit the same types of powers the do here. They don't blink. The evil there might be different."

Virginia curiously asked, "exactly what kind of evil exists here?" She had never even known that magic existed in her own world. 

An uncomfortable look came upon the faces of Phoebe, Piper and Leo.

"Plenty," explained Piper, not wanting to go into details about warlocks, demons and the underworld. Chances are nothing would be going after Virginia. She didn't have anything that they would want. 

Uncomfortable with Piper's accusations of his wife being evil, Virginia's husband Wolf, decided to change the subject, "any idea what she could do with her powers?"

Leo responded "well right now, her powers seem to only work with mirrors. Over time, they'll probably develop into something similar to what her mother and Veronica had."

Wolf wondered, was there any way that Virginia's newfound powers were tied to the five great mirrors. One, Veronica's most powerful, was long missing. The other four sat in a room in Wendell's castle. Old folklore said that one was to remember, one was to forget, one was to spy, and one was to travel. At the present time, only the mirror to travel, was working. Because they had been used for great evil, the remaining three were feared. Very few had the courage to attempt to use them and the rare few who had, could never get them to work. Perhaps Virginia could now do the task?

"How about we try testing them out, see what she can do?" Wolf asked, as he handed Virginia a small hand held mirror. This gave Phoebe an idea. "Close your eyes. I'm going to hide somewhere, and you have to find me." She went into the bathroom, and turned on the light. She then yelled to Virginia, "where am I?" 

"Your are in our bathroom." responded Virginia as she looked into the small mirror. It seemed she could see Phoebe, through the mirror on the medicine cabinet. 

Wolf then asked, "Phoebe, can you see Virginia?" 

"No," responded Phoebe. This made Wolf curious.

"Are you sure?" He responded. He then ran to join Phoebe in the bathroom to see for himself. It looked like as of now, Virginia's power was one way.

Phoebe asked, "any reason you think that this could be two way? That I could see her?" 

"Because that's what her mother could do. She once used it on me," he responded. He then opened the medicine cabinet, so that the mirror on it was facing the wall.

He heard Virginia from dining room, "the view just changed. Now I see you two from the mirror on the door." 

He then stood against the full length mirror on the door. "Now I can't see you at all," responded Virginia.

Phoebe then asked Wolf, "When had you seen her mother's powers?" 

Wolf wasn't sure how to answer. When they had told their story over dinner, they had left out a few details about how he had been freed from jail by the evil queen in exchange for finding Prince Wendell, who had been turned into a dog. A knock at the door was heard, and Wolf darted to greet whoever was there.


	8. Chapter Eight

"Wendell, how have you been?" Wolf asked King Wendell. With him was an absolutely succulent woman with reddish hair, and a face as white as the fleece of a young lamb. 

The King responded, "this is Paige, one of the Charmed Ones, with whom I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting and spending afternoon and evening." 

Wendell noticed that Wolf did not seem impressed by this. 

"We just met the other two," Wolf responded, "they are here now."

Wendell and Paige walked into the apartment. 

Wendell always wondered why Virginia chose to live as such a commoner, in a small, rat-infested tenement building. She and her husband refused to move, even after he bought and redid the restaurant where she used to work. He turned it from an absolutely putrid excuse for an eating establishment into one of the most well respected restaurants in all of the five boroughs. 

"Paige," asked Phoebe, "What are you doing here?" She noticed that her sister was with the man she had left her with early in the afternoon, the handsome blond who collected the bill.

"What are you doing here?" responded Paige. 

She had had the most incredible day. Wendell, took her on a tour of his realm, where fairy tales were real. In fact, he was the king of one of its most prosperous provinces. He had shown her things, and places, she never dreamed could exist. At the end of the day, he took her back to her own dimension, through a magic mirror. He insisted that she not go back to San Francisco until he introduced her to some friends living in her world. These friends had helped to save his world from Christine, his evil stepmother.

"We were visiting my ex room-mate," answered Phoebe.

"Are these the other two Charmed Ones?" Wendell asked Paige looking at the two woman in front of him. One of them he recognized from earlier that afternoon, the other he did not recognize. 

"Yes," answered Paige. 

"Which of you was the one to actually vanquish Veronica?" Wendell then asked"That would be me" answered Piper, "I was somehow given Red Riding Hood's hood, that let me transport to wherever she was. I then used a vanquishing potion my grandmother suggested." She then changed the subject, and asked the man, "if the swamp witch was so injured, as Warren says she was, how did she come back last week? How did she do all the damage she almost did, sending the Big Bad Wolf after me, poisoning Paige, and turning Phoebe into a pumpkin?"

Wendell paused for a minute, then responded, "while the swamp witch gave away most of her magic mirrors to her successor, she kept one, her most powerful mirror. This allowed her to rise every ten years, to find a new successor, or vanquish potential enemies. The mirror also let her summon some of history's most infamous criminals back to life. However, now that she is gone, we no longer have to worry about her rising again." He then looked to Virginia "How come you never told me that you knew the Charmed Ones? That you used to live with one of them?"

"When I knew Phoebe, I didn't know she was a witch," responded Virginia. 

Wolf then cut in "Virginia is a witch too…"

"And how did that happen?" asked Wendell. 

Wolf answered, "When the Charmed Ones vanquished Veronica, there was some kind of power transfer that took place."

A frightened look came upon Wendell's face. Even though Virginia was one of the fairest women he had ever known, the thought of her possessing the powers of her mother brought him great fear. When he was just a young boy, Christine poisoned both his parents. She was caught when she attempted to poison him, and was jailed for 20 years. However, three years ago, she had escaped, turning him into a golden retriever. Fortunately, Wolf, Virginia, and Virginia's father Tony were able to save him, and all of the Nine Kingdoms of his world. 

"There is nothing to worry about," Leo chimed in, "Virginia won't become an evil witch. The powers she has gained have been filtered by an extremely reliable transfer orb." 

Wendell gave the blond man a dirty look, "And how do you know this?" he asked, a slight hint of condescension in his voice. 

The man responded, "I'm a whitelighter. My kind guide and heal good witches. If she were evil, I would know." 

"Exactly what kinds of powers do you have?" asked Wendell looking at Virginia. He wondered how he was going to explain all this to her father. 

"If I think of a person, when I'm by a mirror, I see them."

"Interesting," replied Wendell. Why wasn't he surprised that this was the power she now possessed? He then asked. "Think you could use the spying mirror?" Having someone using the spying mirror would be an advantage to running his kingdom.

"We should test that out," Wolf chimed in, momentarily forgetting about his guests. 

Virginia then asked "is there any way that Leo could come along? He seems to know about these kinds of things?"

"Yes, of course!" replied Wendell, "tomorrow I am planning a grand ball your honor," he said looking at Paige's sisters. 

"Wendell, you don't have to do that" replied Paige.

"Well, I'm doing it whether you like it or not," he replied. "It takes place at the stroke of 7:00 in the evening. You should probably get some rest. I intend to spend the day giving the four of you the grand tour of the rest of my kingdom."

At that, the Charmed Ones, and Leo decided that it was time to call it a night, and orb back to San Francisco. Tomorrow would be a long day.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

The Charmed Ones, Leo, Wolf Virginia and King Wendell started their day testing Virginia's powers on her mother's spying mirror. While Virginia could see people through any mirror, only with the spying mirror could she actually summon others.

This did not surprise Wendell, who remembered that Christine could only find people, and speak to them when using the spying mirror. In addition, Virginia could also tell when she was being "spied on" by someone using a simple magic spying mirror. It was assumed, that as Virginia's powers grew, she would gain the ability to use some of the other mirrors.

After a experimenting with the mirrors, the Charmed Ones were taken on a tour of the Nine Kingdoms. Because no carriages were large enough to hold seven people, Leo, Piper, Wendell and Paige were in one, and Wolf, Virginia and Phoebe were in another.

While riding on the tour, Wolf and Virginia described how they met. To Phoebe, they seemed like one of the happiest couples she had ever seen despite their "beginnings." Wolf had been set free from prison by Virginia's evil mother, Queen Christine. This was done in order for him to track down Prince Wendell, whom Christine had turned into a dog.

The dog found his way to New York through a magic traveling mirror in the basement of the prison. As destiny would have it, Virginia found it on her way to work and took him with her. Wolf, who had found the mirror, was able to track the dog to the restaurant where Virginia was working. He then seduced Candy, Virginia and Phoebe's old friend, and found out where Virginia lived. After he arrived at her home, Tony, her father, gave away her whereabouts in exchange for a "magic wishing bean." However, upon seeing Virginia's picture Wolf fell in love instantaneously. He decided to disobey the queen's orders and help Wendell, Virginia and Tony.

Wolf noticed that their story, of how he changed, because of Virginia, his "mate for life" seemed to strike a cord with Phoebe. Virginia considered it interesting. The previous day at lunch, Phoebe seemed to express residual feelings towards her ex husband. However she had said something about, "love not being enough."

During a "shopping break" along the tour, the Charmed Ones stopped to purchase dresses for the ball in their honor. Wendell was taken aback. While Piper, the eldest chose a tasteful white dress, with long sleeves, a long skirt and a silver trim around the seems, Paige and Phoebe chose dresses that were made for common prostitutes and shepherdesses! Paige chose a bright red, sleeveless dress. It was so short that one could see the top of her knees. In addition it could not be anymore low cut.

Phoebe's dress was even worse. In fact it was barely a dress at all, it was more a piece of material that simply covered up what was necessary! Phoebe then persuaded Virginia into buying a new dress for the ball. She told Virginia all sorts of rubbish about how, "If you got it, flaunt it," picked out a dress that was utterly tasteless and had Virginia try it on. Never had he seen Virginia more uncomfortable, although Wolf seemed delighted, licking his chops and telling her how "succulent" she looked. He insisted on buying the dress, and even persuaded Virginia to wear it for the ball. Wendell cringed at the thought of Tony seeing his daughter dressed in such a manor.

The ball thrown in the Charmed Ones honor was beyond anything any of them could have imagined. It was held in the grand ballroom of King Wendell's immense castle. Individuals from all over the realm traveled to meet them. In fact, they had even met representatives from Cinderella herself! The Charmed ones never realized that they were interdimensional celebrities.

Tony, Virginia's father, stood in the corner, hoping that someone would ask him to dance, perhaps one of the Charmed Ones he had heard all about. He had had a long day, after learning that his daughter was "good witch," with powers to see things in mirrors. She had spent the day with the Charmed Ones, three witches, who to his surprise, were from his own world. Up until now, he never believed that magic could exist there, although the same could not be said for ghosts and UFOs.

He glanced across the room, and was taken aback when he noticed what his daughter was wearing, a short, low cut blue dress. Why was she wearing it? She knew that this place had decency standards and that dressing like that was frowned upon. He wondered who had put her up to it. It couldn't have been Wolf, he was never a big one for shopping. There was another person he thought of, who it could have been. However, Virginia hadn't spoken to her in a long time! Besides that, she wasn't even in this dimension unless….

"Hi, Mr. Lewis," she said greeting from behind. Tony spat out his drink in shock. It had been awhile since he had heard that phrase, in that tone. It brought back a number of frightening memories!

After Virginia graduated from school, his mother in law insisted that she move out on her own, and rented her an apartment. Of course, Virginia couldn't live all alone, so she placed an ad in the times, looking for a roommate. Tony hoped that the roommate would be someone sensible, but it wasn't.

It was Phoebe Halliwell, who had moved from San Francisco after dropping out of college. She had recently lost her grandmother, and was searching for her long lost father. Bad influence barely described her. Phoebe was into drinking, drugging and picking up whatever men suited her. For six months Tony lived in terror, worrying what she would talk his daughter into, tattoos, body piercing, dating undesirable men. Eventually she decided to move back to San Francisco, and Virginia decided to move back in with him.

"Hello Phoebe, I take it you are one of the Charmed Ones?"

"Yeah," she responded rather coyly, extending her hand and gesturing towards the dance floor. While Tony didn't feel comfortable dancing with a girl his daughter's age, dressed the way she was, he felt uncomfortable saying no, so he took her out on the dance floor for about fifteen minutes.

As the night went on, Virginia noticed that while some of the most eligible bachelors in all of the Nine Kingdoms were flirting with Phoebe, she didn't seem to connect with any of them. The Phoebe she remembered wasn't like that. While Phoebe was sitting and watching the guests dance, Virginia approached and asked, "Missing someone?"

"No, I just don't feel like dancing," Phoebe responded uncomfortably.

Virginia could tell that there was something she wasn't letting on.

"What exactly happened between you and your ex? I know its none of my business, but?" Virginia hated the way she was prying. Phoebe then got up and they walked out onto the balcony, which was more private.

She then told Virginia all about the relationship between her and Cole, her ex husband. He was a half demon, sent by evil triad, to kill her and her sisters, but instead fell in love.

They had been through a lot during their relationship, the including death of her sister Prue at the hands of a demon. After Prue's death, they thought the power of three, the key to their ability to defeat evil, was lost for good. However they discovered a long lost sister, Paige, the daughter of their mother Patti, and her Whitelighter, Sam. Paige had been born in secret, and was given up for adoption without anyone knowing.

For awhile Cole and Phoebe's went smoothly, despite the fact that were being terrorized by the source of all evil, the leader of the underworld. Eventually the source became desperate, unleashing the "Hollow," an unknown entity which had the power to absorb all magic. Somehow, despite having their powers stolen, they were able to vanquish the source. They were married shortly afterwards. However he somehow became possessed by the source, and had to be vanquished.

Afterwards, he ended up in a place where all vanquished demons go, but was able to escape due to his love for Phoebe.

After Phoebe finished her story, Virginia suspected that Phoebe didn't understand what really happened with Cole and the source. She then asked, "If the source is gone, why can't you be together? He loves you, and you obviously love him?"

"It's complicated. I am afraid that if I get back with him, that it'll happen again. That he'll become evil, that I'll become evil."

"Phoebe," Virginia began to explain "The benefits of loving someone greatly outweigh the risks. It's something I have learned from being with my husband. No relationship comes without strings attached."

Phoebe listened, then asked, "What kinds of risks have you had to take in your relationship? Has your husband ever become the source of all evil and tried to kill your family?"

Virginia sighed and revealed to Phoebe, "Kind of," she paused. "During the full moon, he goes insane. He has actually hurt me various occasions."

Phoebe was surprised. It was difficult to imagine Wolf becoming violent. He seemed like such a playful, outgoing, fun loving man.

She replied, "Why do you stay in the relationship if he ever becomes like that?"

"Because I love him. He becomes something else on the full moon, not the man I love. It takes him over, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it."

She continued, "Like you, for awhile I felt I couldn't overlook it. Something once happened during a full moon. Afterwards, I was determined to end the relationship. I decided to move out with Randell, and move on. I filed for divorce. It hurt both of us, but I figured I would get over it eventually. I actually started a relationship with someone else. However when things became serious, I realized something. I still loved Wolf and would always love Wolf. He is my soul mate. My life would never be complete without him in it."

Phoebe didn't know how to respond. She began to realize something. Would her live ever be complete without Cole? Perhaps she should re-consider things. She certainly missed him.

Phoebe and Virginia walked back inside. The ball was beginning to wind down. Wendell offered to take them to a different part of his kingdom, Kissingtown, one of the most romantic places of his world.

Phoebe didn't know what to do with herself. She felt like a fifth wheel, being the only one without a date, in the love capital of the magical realm. Wolf and Virginia, Piper and Leo, and Paige and Wendell were all off together as "couples."

She walked down the street and looked around. It was absolutely breathtaking. She was reminded of a quaint small town, somewhere in France. Surrounding her were horse driven carriages, and couples walking hand and hand. She wished she could be walking hand in hand with someone. _He would love this place_, she thought to herself.

When she arrived at the end of the block, she spotted a coffin, one similar to the one Paige had described from last week. A sign next to it revealed that it was the actual coffin that Snow White was in after the evil witch had poisoned her.

Unable to think of anything better to do, Phoebe decided to lie down. It was an enchanting feeling. She closed her eyes, and imagined what it would be like to be Snow White, lying in a coffin, almost dead, waiting for the kiss of a prince to wake her up. As that thought went through her mind, she felt a prince approaching. He gently kissed her lips. The kiss felt comfortably familiar. She opened her eyes.

"Thought you could use a prince," his quietly told her. He helped her out of the coffin, and they embraced. "I love you," she said softly, looking up into the sparkling blue eyes of her soon to be ex husband.

The End


	10. Epilogue

Some time later: 

_It was still early on the West Coast, _Virginia thought to herself as she handcuffed one of Wolf's arms to the bed post. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong, something dreadful was about to occur.

"Make them tight, if I struggle I can get free" he chillingly whispered into her ear. This brought back painful memories of the last time he had gotten free, on that awful afternoon in Kissingtown. As she wrapped a steel chain around his chest she began to wonder, were they tight enough? Even at her tightest, could he still get free? She looked towards the bathroom, with it's brass pipes, and around the room, wondering where the main frame of the building was. Perhaps it would have been better to tie him up in one of those places? Would they be more secure? She headed towards the bathroom, to figure out where the best place would be. However before she could get there, she heard a knock at the door….

To be continued, in the next part of this series, What Lies Within.


End file.
